I thought I should give myself a serious target and aimed to read 30 books by Australian women.

Now that the year is drawing to a close, I’m happy to report I exceeded that self-imposed target: I read 35 books by women — and I loved (almost, but not quite) every one of them.

As well as reading all the titles on the 2016 Stella Prize shortlist, I read a wonderful mix of newly released books and old ones that had been lingering in my TBR for years. These included non-fiction and fiction — mainly literary fiction, with a side order of short stories (I read four collections) and a couple of crime novels.

Well done, Kim, I’ve read quite a few of these but won’t list them all. I don’t do this (or any other) challenge but I am pleased to find at the end of 2016 that my reading has been 50/50 male/female without any conscious effort on my part. There have been some really good books released this year, and some impressive debuts. (And yes, Music and Freedom is among them).

In the 1980s I went through a phase of reading almost nothing but women writers: Jolley, Weldon, Lurie, a bunch of NF feminist texts. I still have them all on my shelves, representing a formative stage in my reading, transitioning from mostly classics into contemporary authors. I wish I’d kept a reading journal back then.

That’s a fantastic number of Aussie female authors – very impressive. I have read 29 books by Australian authors this year and 24 of these were written by women. I have read 10 of the books you have listed above – it’s hard to pick a favourite of those although Elemental is a strong contender. I also thought Reckoning, Salt Creek, Small Acts of Disappearance, Dying, Everywhere I Look and The Golden Age were brilliant (wow, that’s 7 out of the ten!). I tried and abandoned another 2. Of the ones I haven’t read I’m most interested in The Dry and Aunts Up the Cross.

I’ve only read a couple of these. Salt Creek has been on my radar for a while, and I’d forgotten Small Acts of Disappearance. I’ll read all of Harrower and Astley one day. The Panthers one I hadn’t heard of but looks interesting. I checked out your review of The Golden Age. I had a classmate with polio in the late 1950s but I remember my (school teacher) father being more worried about TB.

Thanks so much for joining the challenge this year, Kimbofo, and for giving it an oomph as a result. I’m so glad you enjoyed it and plan to join in again next year. As I think I’ve told you I’ve read 30 Aussie women writers this year, but of yours here I’ve only read 9 or 10, and several of those not this year. So many Aussie women to read. It’s wonderful/

Ever since the 1980s I’ve tended to make a point of reading more women writers. I do read men of course – there are some great ones (!) – but I do like reading contemporary women and, particularly, catching up on past writers.

Hello Kim I’ve enjoyed reading this post and looking at my own reading journal for the year. I’m able to account for twelve books by Australian women writers. Top for the year would be The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose. Have a lovely New Year :)) and ignore the blog address on this WordPress account please, I’m between alternative emails.

Oh, Small Acts of Disappearance by Fiona Wright. It took me nearly a month to finish the memoir because I found it so moving and impactful. Sat down many times to try and write out some reflections, but found I lacked to words to explain myself.

I do have several more of the titles you listed here on my to-read shelf so thank you for bringing them to my attention this year. Have to say, following along with your year of reading Australian lit has been quite a detriment to my wallet. So few of the titles are published in the US and, therefore, not available at my public library. 🙂